UTPA celebrates Earth Day
Campus’ sixth year going green
Pages 4-5
April 30, 2015
Volume 71, No. 27
ONLINE CONTENT
panamericanonline.com
Bert Ogden Gives
UTPA receives endowment
Soccer Camps
UTPA to host two during summer
Gaming Blog
Should you preorder Star Wars:Battlefront?
ONLINE CONTENT utbcollegian.com
Registration
UTRGV official addresses concerns
Michael Aguilar/ The Pan American By Marco Torres The Pan American
After two days of action the men’s and women’s tennis teams found themselves in the Western Athletic Conference Championship match April 26 at the Overland Park Racquet Club in Overland Park, Kan. Each ended up second in strong performances as the last Bronc teams ever. WOMEN’S The first day of competition started April 25 against the number-three seeded University of Missouri-Kansas City Kan-
garoos. The Broncs were able to punch their way into the championship by coming back after being swept in doubles competition and losing the first singles match. It wasn’t until sophomore Mariana Ranzahuer’s 6-2, 6-0 victory that the Broncs landed on the scoreboard. This was followed by a 6-1, 6-3 victory from freshman Natacha Minc. UTPA went on to win the final two matches, securing a date with the New Mexico State Aggies in the championship match. Head coach Stephanie Vallejos knows that it is a great accomplishment to make it to the
WAC championship. “It was great to get to the championship match at conference,” Vallejos said. “I am proud of the team and how much work that they put into getting to the finals. They competed strong throughout the season and gave it everything they had.” However, championship Sunday saw the Broncs being swept 4-0 by the top-seeded Aggies at the Plaza Tennis Center. The clinching match for the Aggies came from Denise Van Der Ben as she defeated junior Chrisetl Amsallem 6-2, 6-1. Along with the Broncs finishing with 10 or more wins for
the second straight season, Katia Stavroulaki and Reegan Greenwood were named WAC AllTournament and the two earned All-WAC honors for their performances throughout the season. Stavroulaki earned First Team All-WAC and Greenwood got Second Team. The pair was also able to gain Second Team All-WAC doubles honors. “I am really proud of them and they are both deserving of the honors received today,” Vallejos said. “I am especially proud of (Stavroulaki) for playing a tough position in the line-
up and seeing a lot of success so far. Everyone on the team has been playing well and I know that if they continue to work hard this weekend they can continue in a positive direction.” Vallejos feels joy for what her team has been able to do throughout the entire season. “This was a year that each of them should be proud of,” she said. “They had confidence in the semis match against UMKC and now that we’ve been to the finals I know that they have more belief that we can really win in our conference.”
CONTINUES ON PAGE 7
2
opinion
April 30, 2015
The Pan American
thepanamerican@gmail.com 1201 West University, ARHU 170 Edinburg, Texas 78539 Phone: (956) 665-2541 Fax: (956) 665-7122
Editors-in-Chief: Andrew Vera May Ortega
Sports Editor:
Marco Torres
Arts & Life Editor: Nerio Celaya
Photography Editor: Jon Nutt
Design Editor:
Alicia Rangel
Multimedia Editor: Michael Aguilar
Social Media Editor: Nathaniel Mata
Copy Editor:
Andy De Llano
Adviser:
Dr. Greg Selber
Administrative Associate: Anita Reyes
Advertising Manager:
Verónica Rodríguez
Webmaster:
Sharath Kumar Aitha
#UTPA
The Pan American is the official student newspaper of The University of Texas-Pan American. Views presented are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the paper or University.
May Ortega
Co-Editor-in-Chief
For those of us who live away from home and seldom visit due to school and work, returning to our roots can feel a bit odd at first. Your presence has obviously been missing while the rest of the residents have kept the place buzzing. The Greek have a word for the return home from a long journey: Nostos. I’m set to leave to Las Vegas in early June for an internship with a newspaper called the Las Vegas Review-Journal for 10 weeks. When I come back in late August UTPA will be the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, so this
Leaving a cottage, returning to a mansion is the last The Pan American issue I’ll contribute to. Although this paper is going to print two issues during the summer, - June 18 and July 16 - I won’t be here. We will also produce our third annual magazine at the very start of fall 2015, but I’ll miss out on that as well since I’ll be back days before school starts again. That upcoming magazine will be the first publication by UTRGV’s newspaper, which as of this run date is still unnamed. It will be the result of our merger with The University of Texas at Brownsville’s paper, The Collegian. So I’m going to miss out on
the first actual collaboration with our other half. In my absence my co-editorin-chief, Andrew Vera, will run both summer issues on his own. Then our next most experienced staff member, Sports Editor Marco Torres, will take charge of the magazine. While both campuses’ staffs keep the news coming for our community, I’ll be gaining experience through a once-in-alifetime opportunity The Pan American played a huge role in helping me earn. Throughout my time in Las Vegas I’ll be keeping a blog through TPA’s website detailing my experience so I
can still feel like I’m contributing to the paper. I am not nervous about leaving to live on my own in “Sin City” and I don’t doubt the capabilities of our staff. However, it does sadden me that I won’t be here to guide our team into this new and monumental era. Fall 2015 would have marked three years since I’ve been with The Pan American; It also would’ve marked this paper’s 72nd birthday. When I return it’ll be like a
clock reset. I’ll step foot in a different paper’s newsroom, work with a larger and more complex staff and follow new formats. So I’ll be coming back home, but it will have undergone many renovations. As our traditions fade and we adopt fresh customs, I’ll keep what I’ve learned from this paper’s staff at the front of my mind whether I’m in Las Vegas, my hometown of Rio Grande City or the UTRGV newsroom. I hate goodbyes, so I’ll skip that and keep improving while I approach my impending nostos.
Letters to the editor
The Pan American accepts letters of 300 words or less from students, staff and faculty regarding recent newspaper content, campus concerns or current events. We cannot publish anonymous letters or submissions containing hate speech or gratuitous personal attacks. Please send all letters to:
thepanamerican@gmail.com Vol. 71, No. 27
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Jon Nutt/ The Pan American Juan Carmero, a visitor at UTPA, smashing a van with a sledgehammer in the Quad April 27. Tau Kappa Epsilon held the event, called Smash and Bash, where participants paid to wreck the van. All proceeds go to St. Jude’s Research Hospital.
CARTOON
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Democrats lost in 2014 because the party wasn’t associated with big, bold ideas that would tangibly improve people’s lives. Some Democrats are aiming to fix that with the cutting-edge idea that if you’re a student in America, you should have the ability to attend a public college or university and graduate free of debt. Representative Ruben Hinojosa has an opportunity to show real leadership on the issue of debt-free college by co-sponsoring the Grijalva-Ellison-Clark resolution in the House of Representatives. Student debt constrains career choices. It prevents young people from innovating in the marketplace, saving for retirement, and starting
families. That’s bad for students and bad for America’s economy. Debt-free college can be achieved with federal support to states, more aid to students, and innovation that reduces the underlying cost of college. A national poll found voters support debt-free college 71% to 19% -- in blue, red, and purple states. Individuals can support debt-free college at DebtFreeCollegeNow.com. I urge Representative Ruben Hinojosa to act boldly in support of debtfree college by co-sponsoring the resolution in Congress. Debt-free college will improve the lives of millions of everyday people. -Ismael Melendez Jr. UTPA student
news
Concern for Hazlewood funding By Andrea E. Perez The Pan American To civilians, a Hazelwood is nothing more than a tree, but to Texas veterans, the Hazlewood Act represents a promise of a college education to them and their immediate family members. According to the Texas Veteran Commission, the Hazlewood Act is a State of Texas benefit that provides qualified Veterans, spouses and dependent children with education benefits of up to 150 hours of tuition exemption at public Texas institutions. The act, dating back to 1923, has provided thousands of educational opportunities for those who have served their country in the armed forces. Eligibility for veterans include being a resident of Texas at time of enlistment and having served more than 180 days of active duty service. In recent times, however, the act and the expenses necessary to pay for what it mandates have become more complicated. Hazlewood has expanded 576 percent with the Legacy Act of 2009, which raised concern among Texas senators who must find funding for it. The price tag has increased sevenfold since the benefit was allowed to be passed on to veterans’ children under a Legacy Act of Hazlewood. Aside from the matching requirements for Hazlewood veterans, a recipient of the Legacy Act must be classified as a Texas Resident, meet the GPA requirement of the public institution and be 25 years old or younger. To be eligible for the Legacy Act, the child designee must be
the stepchild, biological child, adopted child or claimed as a dependent on a federal income tax return filed for the preceding or current tax year. Spouses are eligible for the Hazlewood Act if they are spouses of Active Duty, Reserve and Texas National Guard who are deceased as a result of line of duty, injury or illness directly related to military service, or became totally disabled for purposes of employability. The Hazlewood Act does not pay for living expenses, books or supplies. The New York Times released an article last month stating the concern of Texas lawmakers over the increased cost of funding the act; more than 39,000 Texans reported using it during the last fiscal year, costing the state $169 million. The costs are predicted to rise by 16 percent each year until 2019. Anticipating the rapid increase, the Texas Legislature allocated $30 million toward future Hazlewood costs in 2013. The Legislature will likely have to find new revenue or adjust the program to lower costs. According to the Legislative Budget Board, the Hazlewood fund had a balance of $260 million at the end of August 2014 and the LBB recommended dispersing $23.5 million between 2016-2017. Last month Texas Gov. Greg Abbott proposed allocating $532 million for Hazlewood benefits in his state budget, though that allotment has remained in the background during budget discussions. “It just got too high of a price tag,” Kel Seliger, Texas
Republican Senator for District 31, said to the Associated Press in late March. The current budget increases are in response to a military veteran from Georgia who was living in Houston and challenged the “fixed-point residency clause” of Hazlewood in a court of law in 2014. The clause requires beneficiaries be legal Texas residents when enlisted. According to The New York Times, a federal judge ruled the requirement unconstitutional in January, deciding that the student was entitled to the benefit; Texas appealed the ruling. Lawmakers worry it will prompt other veterans
t o relocate to Texas in order to obtain a free education. Meanwhile, bills proposing the amendment of the statute for the removal of residential clause have been suggested to the Texas Legislature. Though a decision has not been made, veterans at UTPA prepare for budget cuts and any possible outcome. Gabriel Carrizales, a biology pre-med student, states he was listed as a dependent under his stepfather’s Hazlewood Exemption until he joined the military.
He served seven years in the Navy and went through two deployments: Iraq in 2007 and Somalia in 2009. He expressed his concern over the changes in policy and how they will impact his sister’s ability to get a postsecondary education,
since she is listed as a Legacy recipient under the Hazlewood Exemption for their patriarch’s exemption. “I don’t like how (Texas legislators) are putting new requirements and how it’s going to affect the dependents,” the La Joya native said. “My sister is going
April 30, 2015
3
Changes to Act could affect student veterans to use Hazlewood to pay for law school and I wouldn’t want anything to hinder her from going.” The 27-year-old said he plans on using the Hazlewood Act to pay for medical school, where he will study physical therapy and eventually practice in a Veterans Affairs hospital and assist veterans in regaining physical capability. Marvin Martinez, a 31-yearold kinesiology major, has six years of effective duty and three deployments to Iraq under his belt. His time in the armed forces is not over as he hopes to return to active duty as an officer. He said he interrupted his service in order to use the educational benefits he had accumulated,
but h e u s e s the benefits cautiously since he plans to transfer them to his two children, per the Legacy Act. “I know (the University) hasn’t taken much of (Hazlewood), but (the University) has taken some of it and they were going to divide it into two, but now it’s even less for them to divide,” the combat veteran said. “Plans of how people worry about paying for education, that wasn’t one of my concerns because I know
my kids’ education was going to be paid for with Hazlewood and now I somewhat worry about it.” According to a report on the Legislative Budget Board website, 199 UTPA veterans received the Hazlewood exemption with a total value of $607,499 during 2014. A total of 350 Legacy recipients, costing the University $1,711,433; 30 dependents, amounting to $155,425; and five spouses with the attendance price of $33,764 were also reported. The final sum of the Hazlewood Exemption at UTPA for 2014 amounted to 584 Hazlewood recipients costing the University a total of $2,508,121. Martinez is not disgruntled by the alterations being proposed because he believes there are always changes in state policy and knew this could occur. Numerous bills and acts help veterans obtain college educations, including Chapter 35. This provides up to 45 months of education and training opportunities to dependents and survivors who are permanently and totally disabled due to a service-related condition, or who died while on active duty. “I know that some people will be affected by (the changes) because I think dependents might not be (allowed to) use it anymore,” he said. “They still have Chapter 35 because their parents are 100 percent disabled, but along with that it’s so that everyone can get Hazlewood; every son, every daughter, but now they’re saying they can’t. That’s a big issue.”
New school, new positions
UTRGV starts search process for deans By Melinda Garza The Pan American Over the next few weeks, search committees comprised of students, faculty and staff will consider and interview applicants as they look for potential deans for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Search committees with faculty and staff from both UTPA and the University of Texas at Brownsville have begun the process in search of six new deans. The committees are made up of faculty designated by UTRGV President Ad Interim Havidán Rodríguez, staff appointed by UTB and UTPA senates and faculty selected by UTPA and UTB’s Student Government Associations. UTPA Student Government Association President Alberto Adame and Vice President Fernanda Peña were asked to choose
individuals for the committee and submit their recommendations to Rodríguez back in January. “I agreed with the UTB SGA president that we were each going to recommend one student from our respective campus to serve in the committee,” Adame said. “(Peña) and I considered students that have been heavily involved in the UTPA and UTRGV community in the present or in the past, as well as demonstrating their ability to excel academically.” The committee is slated to recommend candidates by working with a search firm hired to conduct the hunt for the new deans. “The committees partnered with a national search firm that specializes in helping institutions of higher education with searches for their administrators,” said Adame, a junior economics and finance major. “They operate nationwide and
help the University find the best possible candidates.” The search committee reviews applications, conducts Skype interviews with a subset of the applicants and eventually recommends candidates to be brought to campus for interviews, according to Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Cynthia Brown. Currently, UTPA has seven academic divisions, or colleges. They consist of the College of Arts and Humanities, College of Business Administration and the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, College of Health Sciences and Human Services, College of Science and Mathematics and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. UTRGV will also have a total of seven colleges. Additionally, the School of Medicine will be merged into the College of
Health Affairs once the medical school is accredited. At that point, the dean of the Medical School will become the dean of the College of Health Affairs. The College of Arts and Humanities will merge with the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences to create the College of Liberal Arts. “The deans will have more faculty and students within their colleges than the current deans have, so this also creates additional responsibilities, especially since these are spread across the Rio Grande Valley,” said Brown, who received her doctorate from UTPA in 1998. The approved structure for UTRGV includes a College of Sciences, College of Health Affairs, College of Engineering and Computer Science, College of Business and Entrepreneurship, College of Education and P-16 Integration (preschool through
Bachelor’s degree), College of Liberal Arts, College of Fine Arts, University College, Honors College, College of Medicine and Graduate College. “Of the seven colleges, six of the academic divisions will have a new dean,” said Brown, who has been working at UTPA since 1998. “Currently, the search for the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Sciences, Education and P-16 Integration are ongoing.” The committee has begun reviewing applications for the candidates who will be invited for campus interviews, which will be conducted this week, according to Brown. However, the search in the Colleges of Business, Engineering and Computer Science and Fine Arts will not begin until the fall. A total of four candidates will be selected for campus visits. However, additional candidates may also be invited for on-cam-
pus interviews based on committee feedback. A DEAN’S ROLE The responsibilities of a dean are almost the same across all colleges. However, depending on the college, roles and tasks can be more specific than others. Currently, deans are responsible for setting strategic, operational and financial directions for the college they are responsible for. They also oversee program, faculty and student productivity and development. “The UTRGV dean positions will be similar to the current UTB and UTPA dean positions,” Brown said. “However, the new job descriptions do reflect the guiding principles for UTRGV such as a focus on student success, becoming an emerging research university and creating a bilingual, bicultural and bi-literate culture.”
Page 4
The Environmental Awareness Club at UTPA, along with the Office for Sustainability, put together a week full of nature walks, speeches and activities for the community to celebrate Earth Day April 22. Earth Fest is a weeklong event that promotes environmental awareness throughout campus in support of the international Earth Day celebration, which began in 2009. Local activities started Tuesday, April 21 with the EAC hosting a Native American powwow where Native American Robert Soto spoke about the Lipan Apache tribe and performed a dance of gratitude for Mother Nature. The Lipan Apache tribe first originated in the McKenzie basin of Canada and came to Texas in the 1600s to look for an area with deer and buffalo to hunt. The following day there was a campus-wide clean up where students received a bag and gloves and were assigned to pick up trash around campus. Once finished, they received Earth pins. About 20 people also took part in a tree scavenger hunt to look for different trees around campus, such as the Texas Ebony, Texas Mountain Laurel, Cedar Elm, Mexican Ash and Sacred Fig. Graduate student Jorge Cantu helped
THE PAN AMERICAN
mark trees with appropriate tags to show the native and non-native trees on campus. Participants wrote the tag numbers they gathered into their tree inventory and whoever came back first, won. To end the day EAC members held a dinner for students in the International Trade and Technology building and viewed a documentary called Years of Living Dangerously. The film was released in 2014 and shows how much
Sixth annual festival held at UTPA
the Rio Grande Valley. “Over 95 percent of the environment in (the Valley) has actually been lost; it’s a very bio-diverse area,” the psychology major said. “Native natural habitat has been lost to being used or cleared for urban, agricultural or industrial use.” Cantu, a graduate research assistant in biology with a concentration in urban ecology, told The Pan American why he decided to pursue the
It’s such a great feeling informing people about what kind of effects we are having on our Earth, but also sharing the beauty it has to show us. - Priscilla Martinez Dietetics major
the world is interconnected and has many cities going through the same problem: climate change. Six students made postcards to show how much they love the planet and to show their gratitude to Mother Nature Thursday, April 23. There was also a speech by photographer Seth Patterson from Brownsville, who uses his photography to show the land and nature. Rebecca Moran, secretary of the EAC, explained how the environment is in trouble and how blind people are as to the actual state of it, including
April 30, 2015
study of trees. “Trees are a part of our environment that I feel do not get as much credit as they deserve,” the 23-year-old said. “I want to show people that trees provide services to us and we should return the favor. The more I learned about trees and what they do, the more interested I got. I want to help spark this same interest in others.” Cantu explained how his education has helped him study plants and added that he’s trying to get UTPA to take the tree initiative. “When I was at Sam Houston
April 30, 2015
THE PAN AMERICAN
Page 5
State University I learned about plant science,” the Mission native said. “Once I entered UTPA for my master’s, I soon joined the Tree Campus Initiative.” In this initiative, state and local foresters helped train students at Sam Houston to inventory trees on their campus. After three semesters and 1,971 trees, the school began taking the next steps to become a Tree Campus USA College. Priscilla Martinez, a dietetics major, is part of the EAC and said she is happy to be part of the club. “Personally it’s amazing, since we as an organization aim towards helping the environment,” the 18-yearold said. “It’s such a great feeling, informing people about what kind of effects we are having on our Earth, but also sharing the beauty it has to show us.” While celebrating Earth Fest, she explained the importance of having activities on campus to complement Earth Day. “It’s such a wonderful way to celebrate the Earth we live in while creating awareness of ways we could help our Earth,” the freshman said. Photos by Juanita Renee Rivas/ The Pan American
Page 4
The Environmental Awareness Club at UTPA, along with the Office for Sustainability, put together a week full of nature walks, speeches and activities for the community to celebrate Earth Day April 22. Earth Fest is a weeklong event that promotes environmental awareness throughout campus in support of the international Earth Day celebration, which began in 2009. Local activities started Tuesday, April 21 with the EAC hosting a Native American powwow where Native American Robert Soto spoke about the Lipan Apache tribe and performed a dance of gratitude for Mother Nature. The Lipan Apache tribe first originated in the McKenzie basin of Canada and came to Texas in the 1600s to look for an area with deer and buffalo to hunt. The following day there was a campus-wide clean up where students received a bag and gloves and were assigned to pick up trash around campus. Once finished, they received Earth pins. About 20 people also took part in a tree scavenger hunt to look for different trees around campus, such as the Texas Ebony, Texas Mountain Laurel, Cedar Elm, Mexican Ash and Sacred Fig. Graduate student Jorge Cantu helped
THE PAN AMERICAN
mark trees with appropriate tags to show the native and non-native trees on campus. Participants wrote the tag numbers they gathered into their tree inventory and whoever came back first, won. To end the day EAC members held a dinner for students in the International Trade and Technology building and viewed a documentary called Years of Living Dangerously. The film was released in 2014 and shows how much
Sixth annual festival held at UTPA
the Rio Grande Valley. “Over 95 percent of the environment in (the Valley) has actually been lost; it’s a very bio-diverse area,” the psychology major said. “Native natural habitat has been lost to being used or cleared for urban, agricultural or industrial use.” Cantu, a graduate research assistant in biology with a concentration in urban ecology, told The Pan American why he decided to pursue the
It’s such a great feeling informing people about what kind of effects we are having on our Earth, but also sharing the beauty it has to show us. - Priscilla Martinez Dietetics major
the world is interconnected and has many cities going through the same problem: climate change. Six students made postcards to show how much they love the planet and to show their gratitude to Mother Nature Thursday, April 23. There was also a speech by photographer Seth Patterson from Brownsville, who uses his photography to show the land and nature. Rebecca Moran, secretary of the EAC, explained how the environment is in trouble and how blind people are as to the actual state of it, including
April 30, 2015
study of trees. “Trees are a part of our environment that I feel do not get as much credit as they deserve,” the 23-year-old said. “I want to show people that trees provide services to us and we should return the favor. The more I learned about trees and what they do, the more interested I got. I want to help spark this same interest in others.” Cantu explained how his education has helped him study plants and added that he’s trying to get UTPA to take the tree initiative. “When I was at Sam Houston
April 30, 2015
THE PAN AMERICAN
Page 5
State University I learned about plant science,” the Mission native said. “Once I entered UTPA for my master’s, I soon joined the Tree Campus Initiative.” In this initiative, state and local foresters helped train students at Sam Houston to inventory trees on their campus. After three semesters and 1,971 trees, the school began taking the next steps to become a Tree Campus USA College. Priscilla Martinez, a dietetics major, is part of the EAC and said she is happy to be part of the club. “Personally it’s amazing, since we as an organization aim towards helping the environment,” the 18-yearold said. “It’s such a great feeling, informing people about what kind of effects we are having on our Earth, but also sharing the beauty it has to show us.” While celebrating Earth Fest, she explained the importance of having activities on campus to complement Earth Day. “It’s such a wonderful way to celebrate the Earth we live in while creating awareness of ways we could help our Earth,” the freshman said. Photos by Juanita Renee Rivas/ The Pan American
April 30, 2015
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sports
April 30, 2015
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 MEN’S Day one for the men proved that the Broncs were able to adapt as they also defeated the Kangaroos 4-2. After starting at 11 p.m. and finishing close to 2 a.m. the team dealt with the home crowd in the WAC Tournament at the Overland Park Racquet Club. “I am so proud of the boys,” Men’s Head Coach Brandon Stokes said. “We played indoors against the home team with a raucous crowd that cheered against us and for their own team and our boys loved it. They embraced the challenge and raised their level of competitiveness.” UTPA started with victories in doubles as the team of Juan Cruz Soria and Koby Jansen won 8-3. Then the Broncs clinched the doubles point as Nikola Crvelin and Elliot Johnstone won their match 8-7. After the Kangaroos tied it up by winning the first singles match, the Broncs responded with wins from Jansen and Soria; both won in straight sets. UMKC picked up another victory before Miguel Alvarez-Hevia won 6-4, 7-5 to clinch a spot for UTPA in the championship match. “We earned the doubles point and finished with the
singles,” Stokes said. “We have made tremendous strides in one year, but we came here on a mission and we are excited to go against the regular season champs.” After a long first day, the Broncs got some rest and unfortunately fell 4-3 to the Aggies, taking New Mexico State to the limit. “We didn’t get it done today,” Stokes said. “But it wasn’t from a lack of energy, effort, spirit, resiliency, intensity or brotherhood. Our family possesses these qualities more than any team in our conference or region.” The Broncs started off hot when the team of Soria and Jansen won their doubles match 8-6. Following the two was the duo of Ethan Ammon and Hector Ramirez as they clinched the doubles point by winning 8-6. In singles competition the Broncs and Aggies traded points and eventually it came down to the final match of the day as Jansen faced Aggies’ Christofer Goncalves. Jansen opened by winning the first set 6-3, then Gonclaves responded by taking the second set 5-7. After some back and forth action Jansen fell 5-7 in the third set, giving the championship to NMSU. “Congratulations to New
Mexico State,” the second year Bronc coach said. “Their freshman of the year beat our freshman of the year in the deciding match 7-5 in the third. They won it. This is a temporary moment of sadness that we will keep in perspective balanced by other issues in our personal history and social history that transcend sports. Tomorrow we start improving our team and program for next season and the seasons after that. The process is bigger than any one result.” Soria and Jansen earned WAC All-Tournament in doubles. Soria was also named WAC Athlete of the Year and earned First Team All-WAC. “(Soria’s) competitive growth has been tremendous in a year and a half,” Stokes said. “A long way to go but he is maturing and is committed to being the best he can be. He is becoming a strong leader for this program. To go undefeated in league play is tremendous. I am honored our conference recognized his efforts.” Also earning WAC honors were Ramirez and Jansen, both Second Team All-WAC in singles. “I am honored to be the coach, teacher and mentor to these seven Broncs,” Stokes said. “It has been an amazing year. This is only the beginning.”
By Nathaniel Mata The Pan American
causes. You kill two birds with one stone.” The event hit close to home for the communications major. “I have two deaf cousins and one of them … (received) a hearing aid and that baby now can hear,” the 19-year-old said. “I was thinking ‘Man, it’s those foundations that do that said. Of course I wanna help.’” Delta Zeta, which has had an official presence on campus since 1966, considers philanthropy to be the focus of the organization. Much of the work is shouldered by Philanthropy Chair Keyla Cadena, who is in charge of putting charity events together. Cadena has been a member of the sorority for two years. Her new position allows her to organize fundraisers for causes important to her. “It’s always a rewarding event to give back to the community,” the senior communication sciences and disorders major said. “Plus, when I joined it was because of my major. I’m going to-
ward those things where people have disabilities.” Cadena has seen noticeable change as the members of the sorority gain experience in hosting events. “We do see improvement in our events, either profits or attendance,” the 22-year-old said. “It makes me feel happy because I can make at least a small difference, helping out and making our members aware of why we are doing this.” All of Delta Zeta’s 43 members were also encouraged to sign up and increase profits. After completing the run, Ashley Anderson, a new initiate in the sorority, spoke about what it was like to be part of the event as a member. “It feels really good because we like the feeling of giving back,” the freshman nursing major said. “This is a big reason why a lot of the girls are here. All the girls in Delta Zeta are here to help and ready to lend a hand to anyone in need.” Anderson said she knew she
Nearly 40 runners endured the humid morning at Edinburg Municipal Park to participate in Delta Zeta’s 5K April 26. Students, families and children gathered around an improvised 5K course on a walking trail early Sunday morning. The funds raised during the event went toward the Starkey Hearing Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works to treat hearing loss worldwide and stop preventable hearing loss. The foundation has initiatives to distribute hearing aids in lowincome areas and create hearing aid recycling programs. For UTPA freshman Matthew Garza, a love for running coupled with knowledge of the fundraiser made signing up a no-brainer. “There’s things you can do to help this foundation or any other by just doing what you love, you just have to find them,” Garza said. “I’ll definitely go to more runs to help these
wanted to join an organization in college, one which allowed her to give back. She got her first experience at the run. “I didn’t think it would have such a big impact on me like how it does now,” the first-year
student and Mercedes native said. “We do a lot of things to help out. It becomes a part of you. When I came out here I didn’t expect to run, but all the proceeds go to the hearing foundation and that’s why I did it.”
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Delta Zeta will take a hiatus in the summer, but will be back on the fundraising trail either for the Starkey Hearing Foundation or another national philanthropy in fall 2015.
Alicia Rangel/ The Pan American Runners begin Delta Zeta’s 5K for hearing loss April 26 at the Edinburg Municipal Park.
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April 30, 2015
IS LOOKING FOR : summer & fall Volunteers campus wide (brownsville & edinburg) For more information please contact us at: (956) 665-2541 or come by ARHU 170
{
spubs@utpa.edu
boneless wings
}
(956) 631-WING (9464)
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5/7/15 Renee Alicia Rangel/ The Pan American